Nets trying to find root of closing issues

In Kenny Atkinson’s debut campaign, the Nets largely got blown out. Then last season they dropped backand-forth nail-biters. Now it’s blowing double-digit leads, an NBA-worst six of them after Wednesday’s collapse against the Jazz. So what’s the common thread? “At the risk of pointing out the obvious, I feel like they scored more than us,” Spencer Dinwiddie said dryly. “Which means they made more shots than us, and stopped us more than we stopped them.

“That’s probably where we should start, because if we’re leading going into the fourth and they don’t score, then we win the game. So if we’re trying to pride ourselves on our defensive mentality and bring that type of focus, then that’s where we have to lock in.”

The Nets (8-14) have been in 13 “clutch” games, according to the NBA’s website, and lost a league-worst nine of them. A clutch game is when the point differential is 5 or less in the final five minutes.

And while the Nets have failed at all aspects in several fourth quarters, the most glaring has been on defense.

“Everybody in the NBA tries to tighten the screws in the fourth quarter, so obviously we have to as well,” Dinwiddie said. “If we’re up at the end of three and they don’t score, it don’t matter if we don’t score, we win the game — so that’s kind of the approach we have to have when it turns into that crunch time.

“When you’re a young team and trying to figure things out, that’s where you have to really lock in, because defense is about effort, something that you can really try to lock in and play together as a team. It’s not like [Kevin Durant] is on the roster, where we’re just going to throw it to him and he’s going to get like 50. ”

For the most part, Dinwiddie is right. Although they shot 2-of-17 in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s loss to Utah and saw their ball movement come to a complete stop, their failings were far more than defense.

“It’s infinitely complex. I wish we could all sit down in the film room and go clip by clip. It’s so varied. I wish I could say there’s one theme,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Every game it’s a little different.

“[Wednesday] it was offensive execution. The Sixers, we couldn’t get stops, that was the issue. … We’re not finishing the plays and the other team has been. That’s super-simplistic, but you could say that if you wanted to look for a simple reason.

➤ Joe Harris is questionable for Friday’s game against the Grizzlies with left adductor tightness.